Three Plums In One: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum Novels) [Hardcover]

Janet Evanovich (Author)

Book Description

Series: Stephanie Plum Novels | Publication Date: April 26, 2001

Three Complete Novels, One for the Money, Two for the Dough, and Three to Get Deadly, from the New York Times#1 Bestselling Author, Janet Evanovich!

Here's where it all began -- the three novels that first brought us Stephanie Plum, that bounty hunter with attitude who stepped out of Trenton's blue-collar "burg" and into the heart of America.

One for the Money: Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad and doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case. Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli's the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There's still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase is interesting.

Two for the Dough: Stephanie takes to the mean streets of Trenton, armed with attitude (not to mention stun guns and defense sprays), to find Kenny Mancuso, who recently shot his best friend and is on the run. Aided by the enigmatic Ranger, who knows a thing or two about bounty hunting, and by her irrepressible Grandma Mazur, Stephanie forms a shaky alliance with her favorite cop, Joe Morelli, for a tumultuous chase through back alleys and Grandma's favorite funeral parlors.

Three to Get Deadly: Stephanie is having a bad hair day -- for the whole month of January. She's looking for Mo Bedemier, Trenton's most beloved citizen, who was charged with carrying concealed and skipped bail. To help her, she's got Lula, a former hooker turned file clerk. Big, blonde, and black, Lula's itching to lock up a crook in the trunk of her car. And Morelli, the cop with the slow-burning smile, is acting polite even after Stephanie finds more bodies than the Trenton PD has seen in years. That's a bad sign for sure.

Funny and fabulous, Janet Evanovich is at her sparkling best in these three novels that launched a bestselling phenomenon.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephanie Plum is so smart, so honest, and so funny that her narrative charm could drive a documentary on termites. But this tough gal from New Jersey, an unemployed discount lingerie buyer, has a much more interesting story to tell: She has to say that her Miata has been repossessed and that she's so poor at the moment that she just drank her last bottle of beer for breakfast. She has to say that her only chance out of her present rut is her repugnant cousin Vinnie and his bail-bond business. She has to say that she blackmailed Vinnie into giving her a bail-bond recovery job worth $10,000 (for a murder suspect), even though she doesn't own a gun and has never apprehended a person in her life. And she has to say that the guy she has to get, Joe Morelli, is the same creep who charmed away her teenage virginity behind the pastry case in the Trenton bakery where she worked after school.

If that hard-luck story doesn't sound compelling enough, Stephanie's several unsuccessful attempts at pulling in Joe make a downright hilarious and suspenseful tale of murder and deceit. Along the way, several more outlandish (but unrelentingly real) characters join the story, including Benito Ramirez, a champion boxer who seems to be following Stephanie Plum wherever she goes.

Janet Evanovich shares an authentic feel for the streets of Trenton in her debut mystery (she developed her talents in a string of romance novels before creating Ms. Plum), and her tough, frank, and funny first-person narrator offers a winning mix of vulgarity and sensitivity. Evanovich is certainly among the best of the new voices to emerge in the mystery field of the 1990s. --Patrick O'Kelley --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

First novels this funny and self-assured come along rarely; dialogue this astute and raunchy is equally unusual. The gutsy heroine introduced here is Stephanie Plum of Trenton, N.J., a recently laid-off lingerie buyer who has no job, no car and no furniture. She does have a hamster, a deranged grandmother, two caring parents and several pairs of biking shorts and sports bras. Finding work with her cousin Vinnie, she becomes a bond hunter and scrounges money enough to buy a gun, a Chevy Nova and some Mace. Her first assignment is to locate a cop accused of murder. Joe Morelli grew up in Stephanie's neighborhood. Possessed of legendary charm, he relieved Stephanie of her virginity when she was 16 (she later ran over him with a car). In her search, Stephanie catches her prey, loses him and grills a psychotic prizefighter, the employer of the man Morelli shot. She steals Morelli's car and then installs an alarm so he can't steal it back. Resourceful and tough, Stephanie has less difficulty finding her man than deciding what she wants to do with him once she's got him. While the link between the fighter and the cop isn't clear until too late in the plot, Evanovich's debut is a delightful romp and Stephanie flaunts a rough-edged appeal. Mystery Guild alternate; author tour; film rights optioned to Tri-Star.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 800 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (April 26, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743216393
• ISBN-13: 978-0743216395
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Was So Entertained!, August 11, 2002

By 

Teri Adams (Laguna Niguel, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Plums In One: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum Novels) (Hardcover)

This has to be the most enjoyable book I have read this summer. I had never read Evanovich before. I came across this book while strolling through a "Message Board" from Kelly Rippa's book club (Regis and Kelly Show). Someone had mentioned it and I'm so glad that I picked it up.

In all three books there are colorful chartacters starting with Joe Morrelli, Ranger, Grandma Mazur and Lula. Stephanie Plum the main chartacter is a delight to follow as she takes on a new job as a bounty hunter.

I can't say that the series is particularly suspenseful OR that it is not predictable BUT I can promise that you will find yourself pulled in ... and along for the ride. In all three books I found myself laughing out loud ... even in the middle of the night ...and wishing there was someone I could share the storyline with. If you like a fast read, good writing and a lot of laughs ... This is the book for you.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Three Stephanie Plum books in One!, July 26, 2001

By 

Andy Edie (Kansas City, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Plums In One: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum Novels) (Hardcover)

In 'Three Plums in One' you get the first three books in the Stephanie Plum series, 'One for the Money', 'Two for the Dough' and 'Three to Get Deadly'. Evanovich has created one of the most endearing, hilarious and completely entertaining characters to populate any genre of fiction you could hope to read in your lifetime.

Stephanie Plum is an out-of-work lingerie buyer who falls into bounty hunting through a combination of a family acquaintance and a pressing need for food, shelter and neon shades of makeup. When you think of a Bounty Hunter you think of a smart, cunning, confident law-enforcement type, but after you meet her, you will think "Oxymoron" whenever you hear the phrase "Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter."

Stephanie bungles her way through several fugitive apprehensions, as well as a rocky, quasi-romantic relationship, all the while giving us all the hilarious details in her frank, rambling narrative. Joe Morelli, a Trenton, New Jersey vice cop, plays Tracy to Stephanie's Hepburn, and Evanovich will have you in tears with her talent for writing the sardonic and sarcastic dialogue that takes place between these two.

Each episode has an underlying mystery to solve, but soon after you start reading you will discover that no matter what Stephanie is describing in her narrative, you would happily read along, much in the same way you would listening to a master storyteller describe a root canal.

'Three Plums in One' is a fast, sometimes suspenseful and often (very often) hilarious read. The three novels run together seamlessly, creating a sense of continuity that will have you thinking it was written as one novel, and then divided.

Read this book now. You will not be sorry. And, just for fun, count the cars.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great place for newbies to start, April 2, 2002

By 

K. H. ZAINAL (Malaysia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Plums In One: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum Novels) (Hardcover)

I've already written reviews for these three books individually so I wont repeat myself here....much. Suffice it to say that if you havent read any of the Stephanie Plum books but would like to start, this collection is perfect for you.

In short, ONE FOR THE MONEY & THREE TO GET DEADLY are wonderfully hilarious. The second book, TWO FOR THE DOUGH, is okay but falls short in its humour and action content.

The Stephanie Plum series is in its eight book now and probably will last another eight. Read this collection of the first three books that started the craze.

Before the series goes stale.